For cams go right here http://www.deltacam.com/ .Delta has many regrind profiles including dual patterns. And you pay less and good service.If your old lifters are probably original,have then refaced at Delta or this place http://www.mizpahprecision.com/ I believe a refaced set of old lifters are better than the new ones.
Run away. This guy's cutting/machine tools suck. Someday a bench proven, high flow CNC altered 848 head will be available and it should be kept in mind that the Soup that Chev article was written before the flow bench was invented so not all alterations are beneficial. IMO Truckedup is spot on that the first place to look for compression is zero decking. Tom, If you're ordering pistons I would be in on a group buy but that may not be possible as I am going .060" over. Remember I have a torque plate with your name on it too.
Yeah,pistons.I have a brand new set of NOS .080 flat top stock 261 pistons with pins. These have the standard 2.060 compression height and sit about .065 below the deck.I'm a little shy about wacking .060 off the deck and might buy custom pistons.If anyone wants these pistons PM me.
Cosmo, thats the ticket - Arias (or Ross) pistons. Until someone like Curt is able to alter the head correctly, it aint gonna happen in todays world without wrecking good heads. And even then we are dealing with 50 year old engines so the improvement is only going to go so far. The last few HP are going to get REAL expensive. And by the time the average inline rookie spends all that cash on lousy machine work (like Curt describes), he is going to have almost as much money in something that doesnt work as the custom pistons anyhow. Curt, I sent a PM on the plate Cosmo, if I can ask, what did the pistons cost? Last time I checked they were roughly $900 to my door?
Tom and all y'all, The man I bought the '54 from, a retired GM machinist, had this engine since, pause for dramatic effect, 1962. He had rebuilt it twice, the latest version around '00. He is a personal friend of Bob Arias, he said he poured a mold of the cylinders and sent them off to Arias and this is the result. Bored, stroked, ported, Clifford cam, Glyptal, ARP fasteners throughout, the man was thorough to say the least. I "found" this engine for sale on the Inliner's site, and I thought it was a great buy. The engine only has a few hundred local car show miles as the man is well into his seventies and went to a built-up 292 to go the air conditioning route, thereby freeing this one up for sale. I regret to say that this engine may be 'too much engine for me' as I am a true daily driver only vehicle guy and am mainly interested in greater 'punch on the on-ramp' over my present '56 235, 848 head, fentons, '62 3sp+od, etc. I am presently having the mill evaluated by a local old engine god for pump gas as George, the man I bought it from was a fan of aviation gas, readily available in his hometown of Flint, MI. I regretfully found this out after a 9 hour trip with a buddy to pick up the engine. I may be overreacting, but if it's too much of a process to go with regular I'll place it in the want ads as I have another 261 that I can go to that will fit my needs. Opinions respected here. PS, Tom, I can call George if you want a ballpark price on the cost of the pistons, but his memory is sketchy at this point, and the way he talked it was surely a 'friend price'. Thanks, Cosmo
Wow Cosmo great story and a great engine! Judging by the work you've described it sounds like "mates rates" prices would be about the only way I could ever afford a build like that. But nice to dream!
Cosmo, I would think if the compression is 9.5 or so you could run it on pump gas. Depending on what you find, and what you want, I would be interested.
Hey Cosmo, I meant to ask, does your oil pan still work with the ARP main studs? Does it interfere or maybe the previous owner modified it to fit? I'm curious to know. Secondly, how many cubic inches is this thing now anyway? Sounds like a beast!
Mark - its 280 C.I. - .125 up of my memory serves me correct. These are real neat pistons - I've seen others like it - the Ross advert in 12 port news were made for a friend's of mine race engine. These pistons shown here raise the compression ratio a little more than my friend's due to the flat area that sits above deck height being a different shape, and his have a notch for the spark to flow. Sexy pistons to say the least. Much better than the old heavy Jahns pop-up cast pistons that I have here. wonder how they'd go with a stroked 261, using late 292 rods???
Yes, he did modify the pan, but that was for the oversize higher capacity GMC oil pump. The engine is 280 cubic inches. I brought my dual deuces on the vintage Edelbrock intake out to Michigan to hear it run. Those white poly spacers were used because the intake would not work with the PO's home-made headers. We gravity fed the gas and it actually ran, but without the advantage of fuel under pressure we couldn't goose it to make the cut-offs rap. It did idle very smoothly though.
Very cool! There's a guy who posts often on the Stovebolt Page who has one of those Cadillac 261's in a 50 Pickup, http://www.stovebolt.com/gallery/plender_ron_1950.html He's a real inliner - and may post here as well. He is probably a good resource on 261's and other Chevy 6's.
Yes, Ron's the real deal along with Tom and Tony P., there are others, these are just the guys I have talked and traded parts with.
Just bought a complete '62 261 engine. Taking it to the local engine machine shop for a complete rebuild. This thread has some great information. Once we open up the engine, decisions will be made for the direction of the build. I'm looking for a great street machine. Putting the engine in my '55 1st series chevy truck. Also plan to use a "85 T5 transmission from a S10, dual carbs on a Fenton intake and Fenton dual exhaust. Should be some good times for this old retired guy. Might even feel young again.
Thanks for the great thread. I just bought a '49 Chevy p/u with a 261, 5 speed and s10 rear so this is helping me get educated. The gears in the s10 rear are way too tall for this set up so my first project is to either swap out the gears or the whole rear end. The O.D. is virtually useless the way it is with 2.73 gears.
This is good info, since the torque sequence for a 261 is different than a 235... I stole this from Inliners.org:
Here's a link to my build thread for my 1957 261ci. It's on the INLINERS Social Group here on the HAMB. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/group.php?do=discuss&group=&discussionid=10816 My photo album has some good build pics of my 261 as well. I will load more if people are interested. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/album.php?albumid=7093
Boost to the top with a question... Why are '54 oil pumps only a one year deal with 261's, anything special or different? Thanks. Cosmo
bump with another question... I got a 261 with 5sp(pto take off) with the COE I got.. Question is.. I don't need it ... Where to sell it? Place an add here soon, any other sites??
Hey guys, just found out that the bolt pattern on the flywheel from a chevy 216 to the 261 are different, 4 bolt to 6 bolt, yes I'm new to this....and the motor I got didn't have a flywheel included. Was curious if anybody knows if a 235 flywheel uses the same bolt pattern and down pins or do I need a 261 flywheel? If I need a 261 flywheel, anybody know where to get one? Or for that matter even a 235 if that will work? Thanks, Jeff.
I would Imagine that they are the same but ultimately this response is worthless because I dont know for certain, oh wait yes I do, yea 235 flywheels, at least 54 to 62 are 6 bolt.
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